E. as well. Generally I avoid alcohol but will sometimes have a glass of wine at family gatherings or drink beer at business/social functions. Although I use the precept as a guideline, I don't claim to be "observing" it at this point.

Was at a family gathering today where wine and beer were served, along with Stewart's Root Beer! I chose the root beer.

After my first retreat I had no desire to do anything to mess up the clarity of my mind (not that it's super-clear, mind you! ). So I don't drink at all, but I wouldn't get upset by food cooked with alcohol - it mostly evaporates anyway.

mikenz66 wrote:After my first retreat I had no desire to do anything to mess up the clarity of my mind (not that it's super-clear, mind you! ). So I don't drink at all, but I wouldn't get upset by food cooked with alcohol - it mostly evaporates anyway.

Mike

The demographic is heavily single men of college age in another web board I read. A number of them have posted about the use of intoxicants ( mostly pot ) as it relates to meditation. I know new meditators don't have the same experiences as people who have been doing it for a while, but when I think about those posts and the wonderful feelings I get from meditation I can't see even wanting an intoxicant.

In reading the scriptures, there are two kinds of mistakes:One mistake is to cling to the literal text and miss the inner principles.The second mistake is to recognize the principles but not apply them to your own mind, so that you waste time and just make them into causes of entanglement.

F. Do entertain drinks in social gathering, and occasionally drink at home too

Unfortunately, I still have a lot of work to do with this one. I don't have any overuse concerns as it relates to my cultural background, but it's something that is on my radar as needing change. I think one of my biggest struggles is making the jump to avoiding alcohol. I need to begin limitting it, but it will/would be an odd transition for most friends and family members if I were to fully abandon the use of alcohol. I know they would be supportive, though.

I recently had to join in on a toast to a departed relative. I asked for a 'splash' of the wine in a tiny glass. I raised that glass and sipped about quarter of a standard teaspoon in. Apart from when in medicines, that's the most alcohol I would ever knowingly consume in a year.

As for other mind-clouding drugs, also wouldn't go there. Weed really undermines samma-sati, as I recall. Once, I used to think it enhanced meditation. Now, I know that it only appeared to; to the deluded mind at that time, it appeared to deepen meditation, but actually, it hindered it.

I adore coffee though...luckily caffeine is the one 'drug' we Buddhists are allowed to consume - and I enjoy the best.

At lunch time on a hot afternoon I just drank a pint of delicious cool beer brewed in a small village near to where we live.It was refreshing and tasty and did not cloud my consciousness AT ALL . Yum. A second pint, or even half pint might have...so I didnt drink one.

The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

The heart of the path is SO simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are. That is all I do in my own practice. Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. When you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing. Of course, there are dozens of meditation techniques to develop samadhi and many kinds of vipassana. But it all comes back to this - just let it all be. Step over here where it is cool, out of the battle. - Ajahn Chah

Not an intentional Bodom. Just a fact. We have a range of responses to alcohol. For those with a problem or for those who become heedless its a no-no. I can and probably will go weeks before another pint or glass of wine.My monk mentor knows. He has not suggested drumming me out of the Temple.

The going for refuge is the door of entrance to the teachings of the Buddha.

Sanghamitta wrote:Not an intentional Bodom. Just a fact. We have a range of responses to alcohol. For those with a problem or for those who become heedless its a no-no. I can and probably will go weeks before another pint or glass of wine.My monk mentor knows. He has not suggested drumming me out of the Temple.

I didn't mean to suggest it was intentional. Its just a bit of a controversial statement to make on a Buddhist forum especially when you emphasize the "AT ALL". I just assumed that there would be some strong opinions on the matter forthcoming.

The heart of the path is SO simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are. That is all I do in my own practice. Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. When you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing. Of course, there are dozens of meditation techniques to develop samadhi and many kinds of vipassana. But it all comes back to this - just let it all be. Step over here where it is cool, out of the battle. - Ajahn Chah

I was a apprehensive about how this would work out socially, but I have been pleasantly surprised to find that the world is pretty accommodating to non-drinkers.

The thing that keeps me going with the precepts is a positive sort of peer pressure. I want to live up to the standard set by the teachers I admire. Keeping the five precepts helps me feel that I am a member of a global community of practitioners, even when I am surrounded by non-Buddhists (which is 99% of the time).

---The trouble is that you think you have time------Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe------It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---

Lucky for me I don't care for alcohol so I was "observing" this precept even before I had heard of it, except for a few occasions. I did indulge in another intoxicant for quite a while but gave that one up many years ago. I consider myself very fortunate that I don't crave alcohol, as I have seen how difficult it is to deal with for those who have issues with it. May all beings be free from the suffering caused by alcohol.

F. I find that having a few drinks, when alone and in a quiet setting, allows me to eliminate excess mental commentary and "just experience." It is particularly pleasant when watching movies, listening to music, and reading poetry. I typically do this a few times a year. Aside from that I will also drink socially, but never more than 1 or 2.

"Just as the ocean has a single taste, the taste of salt, so this Dhamma and Discipline has a single taste, the taste of release."